Post-Game Talk: PS #1 - 09/18/19 | devils @ RANGERS | 7:00 - MSG

[chosen]

I am far from a definitive opinion, but I'm not nearly as impressed with Hajek as everyone else seems to be.

He doesn't seem strong enough or possess enough elusiveness to make up for the lack of strength. Maybe I am missing something about him.

 

[chosen]

No one is going to convince me that Kakko isn't Peter Forsberg reincarnated.

 

[JimmyG89]

DeAngelo is going to need to sign and play soon because Fox is going to take his time and run with it.

Cannot believe the poise he plays with, especially against higher competition. You kind of expected that play in Traverse, but in a preseason game against a bunch of NHL and good AHL players?

Everyone said it before, but to me this proved he's 100% ready to be an NHL player. Have to see if he can do it for a full season.

 

[Kovalev27]

Imo we’re going to have 2 monster lines with panarin driving one and Kakko driving the other. That’s a lot more than most teams can boast.

If DumbAngelo gets his ass to camp and we can run 8 77 23 down the right side every shift, I like the Defense.

I think we’re going to be a good team. We’re going to score. We gotta kill penalties that will be the biggest thing. We haven’t been able to do so the past couple seasons here.

 

[The S5]

Kakko is a stud. He is the total package of skill and smarts. Hopefully, he raises the level of anyone he plays with.
I've watch Fox for a couple of years and he has been very impressive. Biggest strength is his ability to read the play and make the right pass.
Trouba looked bad. Actually thought he was the weaker link in that pairing.
Watched McKegg play with the Canes last year. He can play a fourth line role well, but don't expect too much.
Not too worried about Shesty. He has tons of athleticism and just needs time to adjust.
Lias definitely looks stronger. He must have put in a lot of work over the summer. With that said, he still looks like he lacks top end skill.

 

[ViD]

I fail to see how one could question Shestyorkin’s performance granted it was his first game on the big stage. He looked very good to me.

At this point he’s miles better than Lundqvist of last season

 

[Dr. Ogrodnick]

I revved myself up so high before this game, I can't help but feel a bit let down afterwards. As I wrote earlier after the game, we got outplayed defensively. Now that might be because NJ played some excellent D? Cause I can't remember not one quality chance we had 5 on 5. No odd man rushes, no quick transitions or anything like that. So maybe I shouldn't be so harsh on the Rangers effort because NJ defended really well. That said, I would really like them to play more like NJ did. They had strength in numbers, played more as a unit of 5 supporting one another. You look at the majority of play during the game, NJ had more players around the puck than we did. Now I know this is just one game, but I can't help but feel jealous of their play.

I know the coaches are evaluating individuals, but I also want to see improved play as a team. Otherwise, it won't really matter how well Kakko or Panarin plays. I just thought we would see a better team effort. But I guess that is just me.

I want the Rangers to do well this year. They need to work on this. They play NJ again on Friday and I hope to see a better effort.

Kravstov had a breakaway. Also, Schneider played really well. 7 or 8 top shelf saves. All the showpieces impressed, which is all I was really concerned about. As for Fox, well, ADA better get his butt in camp sooner rather than later if he wants to hold onto that 2nd pairing and some PP time.

 

[Irishguy42]

Also, Schneider played really well.

Pretty much all that needs to be said about last night, tbh

 

[Mac n Gs]

I really hope we see similar steps in development for Chytil and Howden like we saw for Lias tonight. He still has areas to work on, but his skating was improved and you could tell he was trying to be more physically active around the puck.

 

[Mugless]

I had the game on mute at the end. Kakko looked hurt at the end. Was he ok?

He was flexing and shaking out his leg after falling awkwardly behind the net. If you watched him closely after the OT winner in Traverse City, he was doing the same thing, shaking out his leg. Seems like he's playing through something.

 

[Fitzy]

Kakko was in pain after he wiped out behind the net. No contact with the boards, just the ice.

Hard to say what it was exactly. There's a lot of padding where he fell. Could be a bruise, could be a knee sprain.

 

[Loff]

No Kakko or Bread to start the season? Pack it up boys. TAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANK.

 

[nyr2k2]

I've been saying for a while now, I hope they turn Nick Jones' AHL SPC into an NHL ELC. Sign the kid up, he looks like a keeper.

 

[JimmyG89]

All I know is that Brendan Smith is going to be in Hartford, not because of his contract alone, but because he is awful. Crawley is an ECHL guy too. Guy was trying to massacre players instead of playing defense. Might fly in those levels, but not this one.

McKegg can skate, and forecheck. He's got a shot to make the squad over Nieves.

 

[nyr2k2]

All I know is that Brendan Smith is going to be in Hartford, not because of his contract alone, but because he is awful. Crawley is an ECHL guy too. Guy was trying to massacre players instead of playing defense. Might fly in those levels, but not this one.

McKegg can skate, and forecheck. He's got a shot to make the squad over Nieves.

I have been saying this for two years, but people keep trying to fight me on it. He's not good at anything. Depending on who sticks around in Hartford, I hope this is the year he rides the pine.

 

[NYR Viper]

All I know is that Brendan Smith is going to be in Hartford, not because of his contract alone, but because he is awful. Crawley is an ECHL guy too. Guy was trying to massacre players instead of playing defense. Might fly in those levels, but not this one.

McKegg can skate, and forecheck. He's got a shot to make the squad over Nieves.

I'd honestly rather have a 4th line of McKegg-Nieves-______

 

[NYR Viper]

I have been saying this for two years, but people keep trying to fight me on it. He's not good at anything. Depending on who sticks around in Hartford, I hope this is the year he rides the pine.

I'd say he skates pretty well and he plays a rather physical brand of hockey. He didn't really have a 'bad' game per se last night, just a bad pass which we have seen from near ever single defenseman who has played for this team in the last 10 years. That's not to say he should be in the nHL right now, or ever, just that I don't see him as being 'bad'

 

[egelband]

Kreider was really impressive to me, in the limited but I saw. He was all over the place, in a good way. So fast.

 

[Hi ImHFNYR]

One of the more frustrating things for me was reading the definitive opinions on Lias from a LOT of people. Hell there were a good number of people looking to get rid of him.

He's the type of character who you bet heavily on in term of improving year to year. He has a massive drive/will to win, he's been a leader and he busted his ass harder than anyone in hockey last year going league to league to tourney and back.

He earned his way into the NHL way earlier than most do and had flaws that come with being younger than everyone else: athleticism and strength...things that are the easiest to train on and improve.

It is great to see him doing exactly what we all should have been expecting him to do.

Also, no offense to Russians but their pro league coaching seems to suck.

Guys come here with fundamental gaps in bare basics. Training off ice, positioning, overall game knowledge. Gaps that shouldn't be there. I strongly suspect they let superb talent just do its thing but they don't hammer in the fundamentals the way they should

 

[JimmyG89]

I have been saying this for two years, but people keep trying to fight me on it. He's not good at anything. Depending on who sticks around in Hartford, I hope this is the year he rides the pine.

There were two specific plays last night that told me he's a nothing player moving forward, unless it somehow magically changes. Neither were the turnover that lead to the goal.

Two separate times he had to go into the corner after a puck and a Devil and it was essentially set up to be a 2 on 2. He tried to take their heads off instead of initiating a battle in the corner and figure out a way to get the puck.

While he might be someone that will suit up for AHL games, he's not going to do well there for a prolonged period of time. 4th rounder, but wasted it on him. Was the team's first pick after Andersson/Chytil in R1 and just a complete whiff.

 

[Ola]

Wanted to clear something up. Carpinello confirmed the SKA rink last season was in fact Olympic sized. They have transitioned to NA ice this year along with a few other teams and that’s continuing but Shesterkin did play on bigger ice last year.

As joe said it’s not so much the Angles but the pace of play on the smaller rink. The chances are fast and furious and more high danger than Iggy (I cant call that 23 year old kid Igor) is used to so that’s will come with time. But in fairness to him he did not play on smaller ice last year for his home games.

I haven’t looked into this in a while, but a few years ago I saw claims that some teams in the KHL played on NHL sized rinks which I thought was really odd and that it wasn’t confirmed by my eye-test, so I looked into it.

There are in fact reports that a bunch of teams play on NHL sized rinks in Europe, but non do. There are however teams in Europe who play on a bit smaller rinks than the standard in Europe, but they are basically right in between the NHL measurements and standard European rinks.

 

[Hi ImHFNYR]

Kreider was really impressive to me, in the limited but I saw. He was all over the place, in a good way. So fast.

Unfortunately just give it a month

 

[JimmyG89]

I'd honestly rather have a 4th line of McKegg-Nieves-______

Not bad if injuries hit, but I'd say at this point Namestnikov and Strome are going to get time near that 4th line. Same with Fast. Too many forwards on this team that will make it for that to be a 4th line set up. They are fighting for the same spot IMO. One of the young centers will be there too. Howden and Chytil will have to come to play Friday, because Andersson sure did come to play last night.

 

[Edge]

One of the more frustrating things for me was reading the definitive opinions on Lias from a LOT of people. Hell there were a good number of people looking to get rid of him.

He's the type of character who you bet heavily on in term of improving year to year. He has a massive drive/will to win, he's been a leader and he busted his ass harder than anyone in hockey last year going league to league to tourney and back.

He earned his way into the NHL way earlier than most do and had flaws that come with being younger than everyone else: athleticism and strength...things that are the easiest to train on and improve.

It is great to see him doing exactly what we all should have been expecting him to do.

Also, no offense to Russians but their pro league coaching seems to suck.

Guys come here with fundamental gaps in bare basics. Training off ice, positioning, overall game knowledge. Gaps that shouldn't be there. I strongly suspect they let superb talent just do its thing but they don't hammer in the fundamentals the way they should

I think one thing that's interesting with Andersson, aside from the amount of skepticism he's garnered on here since day one, is that I am slowly starting to see a degree of retconning when it comes to the history of how he was viewed.

Pierre McGuire really pushed the whole step right in narrative; but you'd almost think it was universal.

I've seen one or two posts talking about expectations for him to be a first line center, or a top offensive driver. I don't recall that being the discussion either. What I do remember was talk that if the pieces came together, his game/role was going to be more along the lines of a ROR or Bo Horvat. Becoming a second line center was always the end-goal.

At this point I almost want Andersson to make it, if for no other reason than we can stop over-analyzing every fart and fiddle with him.

 

[nyr2k2]

I'd say he skates pretty well and he plays a rather physical brand of hockey. He didn't really have a 'bad' game per se last night, just a bad pass which we have seen from near ever single defenseman who has played for this team in the last 10 years. That's not to say he should be in the nHL right now, or ever, just that I don't see him as being 'bad'

You're right, that's it, he's a decent skater and plays physically. Otherwise, he's not a particularly smart player, he doesn't bring anything offensively, and I just don't see him as anything more than AHL depth.